


Infection

by Agapostemon



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Established Keith/Lance (Voltron), Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff and Angst, Galra Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) Has BPD, Keith (Voltron) is a stubborn butt, Lance (Voltron) did not sign up for this, M/M, Season/Series 02 Spoilers, Sharing a Bed, and yet here he is, but in a wholesome way, cuddles all around, infected wound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-28
Updated: 2017-01-28
Packaged: 2018-09-20 12:38:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9491261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Agapostemon/pseuds/Agapostemon
Summary: Keith’s shoulder wound isn’t healing quite right, but he refuses to tell anyone besides Lance. The situation quickly devolves into chaos and the whole castle gets involved (to Keith’s dismay).





	1. Space Infection

**Author's Note:**

> Content Warnings: Season 2 spoilers, icky wound descriptions, vomit
> 
> This is the first fanfic I've written in 13 years, so please be gentle! I'm a delicate, anxious flower who's very self-conscious about my writing.

Lance flopped down in bed, exhausted from the day’s battle, then beckoned to Keith, “C’mon Keithy, saved you a spot!”

The red paladin frowned from the bathroom doorway and gestured for Lance to roll over, “I claim big spoon, tonight. I screwed up my shoulder in battle, today, so there’s no way I’m laying on my right side.”

Lance complied, but as Keith climbed into bed he asked, “You screwed up your shoulder? Why didn’t you say anything to Coran and Allura?”

“It’s nothing I couldn’t patch up on my own,” Keith said dryly, weakly draping his injured arm over Lance’s midsection, “Let’s just sleep.”

“Okay babe, if you’re sure,” Lance said with a concerned pout.

Keith rolled his eyes and mumbled groggily, “Is the ‘babe’ thing really necessary?”

Lance was asleep before he could argue back.

\---------------

Keith didn’t wake up until several hours after Lance the next day. When he finally did, it was obvious something was amiss. Lance was on his way back to retrieve Keith for afternoon training (“What a sleepyhead! This will be the perfect leverage next time he tells me I’m not training hard enough…” he thought smugly) when he encountered his boyfriend/rival wobbling his way down the hallway of his own accord… albeit not very successfully.

Keith was practically clinging to the wall with his left hand, his face a ghostly pale except for his feverishly flushed cheeks. Lance’s smug grin turned to concern as he sped over to Keith and slid under his left arm for support. “Keith! Are you alright? You look like crap, man.”

“Unghh…” Keith groaned and blinked at him a couple times, “Yeah, I’m fine. Woke up on the wrong side of the bed…”

“Okay, first of all, you literally asked to be on the wrong side of the bed,” Lance pointed out.

“Did not,” Keith protested weakly, “I slept on the same side I always do. I slept on a different side of my body, not a different side of the bed.”

“Second of all,” Lance raised a hand to feel Keith’s forehead, “Do you have a fever?”

“I’m fine,” the red paladin argued, trying futilely to pull away as the taller paladin led him back to his room.

Before Keith knew it, they were back at Lance’s bed and his boyfriend was telling him to sit. He begrudgingly complied, shooting a groggy glare up at the blue paladin as he did so.

“So, this screwed up shoulder that you allegedly patched up yourself…” Lance hummed as he took a seat beside Keith, “Can I check it out?”

Keith sighed in resignation, “Fine, but don’t pull anyone else into this.”

“Okay, cool. I’m gonna need that shirt, then,” Lance replied with a flirtatious smile.

“Did you have to make this weird?” Keith said through gritted teeth.

“Of course,” Lance winked as he grabbed the base of the other teen’s shirt. A faint blush spread across his cheeks as his knuckles brushed across Keith’s surprisingly soft stomach. Okay, so… maybe he made this as weird for himself as he did for Keith.

“Are you gonna take my shirt off or just sit there holding it like a doofus,” Keith scoffed groggily.

“I’m removing it gently so I don’t exacerbate your injury,” said Lance defensively.

“In case you didn’t hear,” Keith retorted with a weak smirk, “I injured my _shoulder_ , not my ribcage.”

Lance’s cheeks burned as he slid his fellow paladin’s shirt off the rest of the way, revealing a large gauze pad taped to his right shoulder. Not much blood had seeped through the gauze, which was good. However, the pad was soaked through with yellowish pus… which was less good.

“Uh, Keithy…”

“Hm?”

“I think this may be infected…”

“Cool. Mystery solved,” Keith said brusquely, making a strained attempt at standing up, “I’ll take it from here.”

“Uhhh, no?” Lance said, pulling the other paladin back down by his good arm, “It’s infected. You have a _space infection_. Like, from space microbes! Not Earth microbes! We should go see Coran and Allura.”

Keith winced, “Okay, compromise. What if you look at it and we figure this out together but without getting the Alteans involved?”

“What about the…”

“Or the other paladins.”

“Ooookay, wow,” Lance replied with a sarcastic lilt to his voice, unsure what was making his boyfriend so defensive about _this wound_ in particular, “So do I just… take the bandage off?”

“Yes,” hissed Keith, clearly ready for this ordeal to be over, “Just take the bandage off.”

Tentatively, Lance reached down and began to pick at the tape surrounding the bandage. Keith’s skin was warm and smooth to touch. His stomach fluttered and he was pretty sure he was blushing again.

“Would you hurry it up back there?” said Keith through a grimace.

“Okay, okay!” Lance took a deep breath, squeezed his eyes closed and ripped the bandage off.

Keith inhaled sharply through his teeth.

Slowly, Lance opened his eyes one at a time and allowed them to focus on the deep gash in Keith’s shoulder. It was definitely infected, but more importantly, “Is that… fur?”

Keith shot him a glare that seemed to say “if you mention it again I _will_ disembowel you,” so Lance went quiet… but his focus kept flickering back to the thin coat of purple fur surrounding the wound. It was slimy with pus and caked in dried blood, but there was no mistaking what it was. The gears in his head turned and turned until…

“Keith, I think… I know why you’re the only paladin to get a space infection…” Lance said cautiously.

Once again, Keith spun around to scowl at the blue paladin. But this time his expression was as scared as it was angry.

“...we need to tell Coran and Allura,” Lance said, quiet but urgent.

“No.”

“What about…” Lance was starting to panic, “What about just Coran?”

Keith was silent for what seemed like an eternity, maintaining his scowl the whole time. Finally, just as Lance was about to wave a hand in front of his eyes and ask him if he was awake in there, he croaked out, “Okay.”

“Okay?” Lance asked, his brow creased with concern.

“But just Coran.”

“Okay,” Lance said, uncharacteristically quiet, “I’ll go get Coran.”

“Just Coran?”

“Just Coran.”

\---------------

“Ahh yes,” Coran announced, twirling his mustache as he contemplated Keith’s condition, “It appears our red paladin has contracted a Galra-specific infection during his scuffle on the enemy ship, yesterday.”

“Uh, yeah?” Lance said with a defensive pout, “I already figured that out? That’s why I brought you here?”

“Yes yes, a very nice catch indeed,” said the older Altean, giving Lance’s head a few brisk pats. The blue paladin beamed with pride.

“Can we stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Keith growled.

“My apologies, young Keith,” Coran turned on his heals to face the subject of their conversation, “Now, it appears our Altean antibiotics have done little to stop the spread of the infection. You… did dress the wound with antibiotics, did you not?”

“Yes!” Keith groaned impatiently, “I’m not an idiot. Obviously I used antibiotic ointment.”

“Good, good,” Coran beams down at Keith, but after a tick his brow creases, “Unfortunately, that seems to indicate that our Altean medical supplies are insufficient to remedy this ailment…”

“Okay, so then what do we do?!” Lance exploded, flailing his arms in anxious frustration.

“Well…” Coran twiddled his mustache thoughtfully, “Our best bet would likely be to acquire a remedy from the Galra…”

“The Blade of Marmora!” Lance threw his arms in the air, a grin filling his face.

“Right on, my fellow!” Coran met Lance’s enthusiasm with a slightly more dignified grin, “That’s precisely what I was thinking!”

“Great minds think alike!” declared Lance, holding out a fist to Coran.

“Er…” the Altean stared blankly at the fist for several ticks before Lance sighed in exasperation.

“You’re supposed to bump it,” the blue paladin explained, “It’s a fist bump?” He lifted Coran’s hand, manipulated it into a sloppy almost-fist and bumped it with his free hand, “Like that? Boom?”

“Ohhh I see!” Coran beamed in realization, “It’s some kind of celebratory human tradition! Here, let’s try it again.” He held out a fist to Lance, who enthusiastically bumped it with his own.

“Boom!” they said together before dissolving into a fit of giggles.

“Uh, guys?” Keith growled from Lance’s bed, “How are we planning on getting these antibiotics from the Blade of Marmora?

Coran stopped laughing and stood up straight, “Why, we tell Allura to navigate to their base, of course.”

“Uh…” Lance glanced nervously between Keith and Coran.

“How about instead we didn’t,” Keith hissed.

Coran looked taken aback, “I’m not sure I understand you boys’ insistence about not involving Allura!”

“Because uh…” Lance took a deep breath, “KeithstillfeelsweirdaboutthefactthatAlluraactedweirdabouthimbeingGalra!”

Coran blinked, “What’s that, again?”

Keith sighed in resignation, “He’s right…”

“Yes, but about what?” Coran asked, still perplexed.

“I know… Allura and I are cool, now,” Keith said, averting his eyes, “but feel strange… rubbing her face in the fact that I have Galra blood, I guess.”

Coran’s face softened and he took a seat next to Keith on Lance’s bed, placing a hand on his good shoulder, “I’ll take care of the princess, don’t you worry. Just remember, she wants the same thing all of us want: to keep you paladins safe and happy. That includes you, Keith.”

Keith nodded solemnly and mouthed “thanks” to Coran.

After a moment of silence, Lance took a seat on Keith’s opposite side and slid a comforting hand around his waist, muttering something about everyone sitting on his bed except him.

The corner of Keith’s mouth twitched up in a smile as he turned to nuzzle Lance’s jawline, but he was stopped short by a twinge of pain.

Lance frowned, “Uh, Coran… what should we do for Keith until we get the antibiotics from the Blade of Marmora? He’s… he’s not doin’ too hot.”

“Actually, he seems to be rather excessively hot,” responded Coran matter-of-factly, placing a hand on Keith’s feverish forehead.

“No I mean, he’s not okay!” Lance sniped impatiently.

“Ah, that’s what you meant! Earth colloquialisms are truly fascinating…” Coran responded, “In any case, we’ll obviously keep him in a healing pod while we acquire the medical supplies we need. I doubt the pod will reverse the infection, but I’m certain it will keep it from spreading.”

“You can’t do that,” Keith said bluntly.

“Well, why not?” Coran blinked at the red paladin.

“Because with Shiro missing, I’m the only member of our team with direct connections to the Blade,” Keith explained.

“Listen here, Mister I’m-More-Important-Than-You,” Lance retorts, “We all fought alongside them against Zarkon. I’m sure we’ll manage without you.”

“It’s true,” Coran’s mustache twitches, “They’re allies to the entirety of Team Voltron, not just allies to you and Shiro.”

Keith winces a little at the mention of his missing mentor, but nods in agreement, “I guess you have a point.”

Lance finger-guns in Keith’s direction, “Lance 395: Keith 387!”

Keith groans, “Are you seriously still keeping points?”

The blue paladin grins, “I get another point if I can carry you all the way to the healing pod!”

Coran looks skeptical, “Perhaps we should simply escort him instead, so as to minimize the chances of adding, how do you say it… injury to injury?”

“It’s actually insult to injury,” Keith points out, “but in this case, I think both apply.”

“Aww, you guys are no fun!” Lance whines.

Coran stands up and points dramatically to the door, “Now, let’s get this paladin to a healing pod!”

“I’m on it!” Lance salutes, shuffling into a better position to help his injured boyfriend up, whispers in his ear, “You ready?”

Keith groans and rolls his eyes, which Lance takes as a yes.


	2. Take Your Medicine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith’s shoulder wound isn’t healing quite right, but he refuses to tell anyone besides Lance. The situation quickly devolves into chaos and the whole castle gets involved (to Keith’s dismay).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Season 2 spoilers, icky wound descriptions, vomit

Keith wasn’t sure how long he’d been in the healing pod by the time he tumbled out into Lance’s arms (which would have sent them both crashing to the floor had Hunk not been there for backup). Dangling awkwardly from Hunk and Lance’s combined hug, Keith took note of his situation.

His shoulder still hurt, but nowhere near as much as it had before. He still felt feverish, though, and his muscles felt weak from what he estimated to be several days in the healing pod.

“We got your medicine!” Pidge announced proudly, holding something up to his face (presumably the medicine, but his vision is blurry and he can’t read the Galra language).

His stomach growled.

“I’m hungry,” he mumbled into Lance’s chest.

Everyone laughed and Hunk helped lift the worse-for-the-wear red paladin into a standing position. He collapsed back into Lance’s arms almost immediately.

“I’ll put together something tasty for you while Lance gives you your antibiotics!” Hunk announces, giving Keith (and Lance, by association) one last hug before trundling off to the kitchen.

“Lance said you’d want him to give this to you,” said Pidge. She handed the antibiotics to Lance and then leaned in close to Keith to whisper, “Blink once for ‘that’s fine’ and twice for ‘please send help, Lance is a horrible medic.’”

Keith gave a weak snort and mumbled, “Tha’s fine.”

Pidge chuckled and looked up at Lance, “Wow, Lance, he actually trusts you with alien first aid!”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” the blue paladin retorted. Pidge just smiled.

Keith grumbled something, but it was muffled by Lance’s hoodie.

Lance adjusted Keith to a position where he didn’t have to mumble into a hoodie, “You wanna go back to my room to do this?”

“Oooooooo,” taunted Pidge.

Keith rolled his eyes, “You make it sound like we’re doing something, y’know… not… applying antibiotics…”

Lance winked, then hoisted Keith up to walk him towards the sleeping quarters.

\---------------

The antibiotic came in two forms: a topical ointment and a horrendous-tasting liquid he had to take daily for five quintants. Keith actually threw up his first dose of liquid medicine, to the tune of “What, are you Hunk now? Apparently your taste buds aren’t Galra.”

The next day went a bit more smoothly. Some food in his stomach, a good night’s sleep and a chance to walk off his time in the healing pod had done Keith a world of good, though he was still feverish and mostly stayed in bed aside from meal times.

Lance came in sometime in the afternoon to give Keith his medicine. This time, the blue paladin had cleverly mixed the disgusting liquid antibiotics with something that tasted suspiciously like Sunny D.

“If you puke, please don’t do it on my bed,” Lance said as he handed his boyfriend the beverage.

“I’ll try,” Keith said, wincing after his first sip of the (still disgusting) beverage.

Lance squinted, “Does that mean you’ll try to or you’ll try _not_ to?”

“Not to,” Keith clarified before gulping down the rest of the beverage with a grimace.

Lance winced and shoved his trash can a little closer to the bed with his foot as Keith handed him the empty glass, “Are you… good?”

“I’m…” Keith gave a wet cough and swallowed pointedly, squeezing his eyes closed, “I’m good.”

“You just threw up in your mouth, didn’t you?”

“I choked on my spit,” Keith defended flatly.

“You definitely threw up.”

“Not on your bed.”

“Fair,” Lance shrugged and took at seat next to his boyfriend, “You ready for the ointment?”

“Yeah,” Keith sat up straighter and began to remove his shirt.

Lance inhaled sharply as soon as Keith’s shirt is off, earning him an eye-roll from his boyfriend.

“Uh, Keith…” he said softly.

“What,” the red paladin responded curtly.

“This gauze might hurt a little coming off…”

“Always does. Just rip it off.”

“…because it might pull your uh... fur.”

“Can we stop talking about that?” growled Keith. Lance could swear his ears pressed back like an angry cat’s when he said that. Were Keith’s ears always so pointy?

“Uh… actually, no, maybe you should look at your back,” Lance said cautiously.

Keith spun his head around, and Lance could pinpoint the exact moment his annoyance morphed into terror, “Oh… quiznak.”

The red paladin’s shoulder and most of his back had been engulfed by lush purple fur.

Lance ruffled his fur and grinned nervously, “I guess your back’s more Galra than your taste buds?”

Keith growled. Lance could swear he saw a flash of yellow in his eyes.

“I think…it’s time to get Pidge,” Lance stood up and inched towards the door, chuckling nervously.

Before Lance could make it to the door, though, Keith _burst into tears_.

Lance froze where he was at, slack-jawed and bewildered. What was he supposed to do? His boyfriend was very fuzzy and very… crying? Keith doesn’t cry! Does he? Holy quiznak. Keith was _crying_!

Finally, Lance sputtered to action and threw himself back onto his bed, burying his face in Keith’s fuzzy back and wrapping his arms around his body. He didn’t say anything, just rocked side to side a little with Keith in his arms.

After a while, his anxiety started to spike because Keith was still crying? How was he still crying? So Lance broke the silence with, “Shh, shhhh, hey. Talk to me. What’s wrong? Talk to me.”

Keith put a shaky hand on Lance’s arm in response, but it took him a few minutes to regain his speech. Finally, he croaked out, “You’re scared of me.”

“What?!” Lance shot up, utterly indignant with his hands on his hips, “I am not!”

“You’re scared of me,” Keith repeated, even quieter than before. He continued to rock side to side, even without Lance’s assistance.

Lance frowned contemplatively, then retorted softly “I’m not scared of you. I’m scared _for_ you.”

At which point, Keith dissolved back into uncontrollable sobbing.

“AaaaaaAAAA!!!” Lance screamed, standing up to pace frantically back and forth across his room, “Keith! Buddy! What do you need? What do you want from me?”

His companion only sobbed harder.

“WHY! IS! THIS! HAPPENING!” Lance yelled, almost in tears himself.

With all the noise coming from Lance’s room, it was hardly a surprise when Hunk showed up in their doorway with dinner, looking very concerned.

Lance froze mid-step and Keith’s sobbing stopped abruptly as he scrambled to wrap a blanket around himself like a hooded poncho.

After several ticks of awkward staring from all parties, Hunk finally piped up, “Um… are you guys okay in here?”

Keith nodded silently and Lance remained frozen in place, eyes as wide as saucers.

“Yeah, um… I don’t believe a word of that, so I’m gonna hang out in here while you guys eat dinner, if that’s okay,” responded Hunk, inviting himself in and handing the stunned duo their trays of goop.

Keith cautiously took a bite of goop, careful to keep his blanket-poncho in place. Lance slowly lowered his lanky body to the floor, where he began to eat in awkward silence. Hunk made a face and pulled out Lance’s desk chair to seat himself. 

They continued like this in silence for almost half an hour before Keith set his tray down on the floor with a gentle clack before curling himself (blanket-poncho and all) into a little ball in the corner of Lance’s bed.

“I think we’re good now,” Lance whispered to Hunk, ushering him out.

Once their concerned guest was gone, Lance made his way over to the bed and sat down, putting a hesitant hand on, well…. what he presumed to be the elbow part of the vaguely Keith-shaped lump in the corner of his bed.

“Hey,” he whispered, “Keithy.”

The lump groaned.

The fact that it was a groan and not a whimper was heartening to Lance.

“Keithy,” he tried again, a little more insistent.

The lump rolled over a bit and blinked at him in irritation.

“We never did put your ointment on.”

“Oh,” Keith murmured, rolling into an upright position and dropping his blanket, “Go ahead.”

Keith didn’t look at him as he pulled off the gauze (and a good amount of fur) and applied the ointment, but he let him.

After Keith had been properly medicated, Lance helped him back into his shirt and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, “I dunno what the heck is going on, but you’re gonna be fine.”

Keith put a hand on Lance’s cheek and sighed, “I’m going to bed.”

“G’night Keithy,” Lance mustered up a smile.

“G’night Lance.”

“I’ll come join ya in a couple hours.”

“Good.”

“I mean, you’re in _my_ bed. It’s not like I have much choice…”

“Still. Good. I like you.”

Lance’s smile grew, “I like you, too.”


	3. A Hairy Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith’s shoulder wound isn’t healing quite right, but he refuses to tell anyone besides Lance. The situation quickly devolves into chaos and the whole castle gets involved (to Keith’s dismay).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Season 2 spoilers, icky wound descriptions, vomit

Lance knew it would be a long day the second he woke up and gave his boyfriend a smooch on the cheek. The… fuzzy cheek. It wasn’t like that yesterday. Oh _quiznak_! His heart rose into his throat. Keith was gonna _flip_ as soon as he woke up…

It was kinda cute, though. Lance smiled to himself as he ran his fingers through the soft fur on Keith’s cheek. It was on his ear, too. His much-pointier-than-it-was-yesterday ear. He couldn’t help himself. He buried his whole face behind Keith’s ear and gave his boyfriend an affectionate nuzzle.

“What the _heck_ , Lance!” Keith groaned, coming to life rather reluctantly. When his eyes opened, Lance noticed that the right eye had a distinct yellow glow to it. Wow, cute? Keith probably wouldn’t agree, though, so Lance held his tongue… and started to panic internally.

“G’mornin’ babe!” Lance greeted with a hopefully-not-too-nervous chortle.

“Whhhyyy…” Keith groaned even louder, yanking the pillow out from under Lance and shoving it over his own head.

Lance held his breath.

After a few seconds under the pillow, Keith roared and sat up, flinging the pillow (Lance’s pillow) across the room. Before Lance could stop him, he reached up and patted the side of his face. Suddenly, his moment of rage dissolved and he looked like he was about to cry again.

Oh heck no, Lance thought. He reached out and pulled Keith closer, frantically brainstorming things to say.

Before he could come up with a response, though, there was a knock on the door. Keith flew under the covers and Lance turned to the door, “Who’s there?”

Hunk let himself in, “Mornin’! Thought I’d check on you guys, since it seemed like last night was… rough.”

Lance gave him a double thumbs up, “All good, here!”

Hunk raised an eyebrow as him and the Keith-shaped lump under the covers, “Riiiiight.”

“No, really. It’s a great morning! We’ll be down for some breakfast in a few minutes!” Lance laughed nervously.

Apparently that was the wrong answer, because Keith raised an elbow and slammed it down on Lance’s foot from under the blankets. Lance hissed in pain and gave Hunk another thumbs up.

Hunk sighed and shrugged, “Okay, well… let me know if anything stops being fine?”

“Will do!” said Lance, attempting to smile through his pained grimace.

Hunk shook his head and headed out.

As soon as he was sure their visitor was gone, Keith popped his head and arms out from under the covers and reached over to shake Lance by the shoulders. “I can’t go out there!” he whispered urgently.

“You’re gonna have to, eventually!”

Keith’s face filled with worry, “How much do I look like…”

“You’re fine,” Lance assured him, “You’re as cute as ever.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about!” Keith hissed, though the blush on the less-furry side of his face indicated that he was flattered nonetheless.

“What do you want me to do, Keith?” the blue paladin asked desperately.

Keith looked at him wide-eyed, mouth hanging open just enough to reveal small fangs where his canine teeth had been. Something about this made Lance desperately want to kiss him, but the timing seemed poor.

Finally, the red paladin closed his mouth and looked away, “Get Pidge…”

“Seriously?” asked Lance, “Just yesterday you said…”

Keith squeezed his eyes shut, “Get Pidge.”

Lance’s bewildered frown grew into a knowing grin, “Iiii told you s—”

“No.”

“Okay, I’ll get Pidge.”

\---------------

Pidge sat in Lance’s computer chair for several minutes, tapping her chin and adjusting her glasses. Eventually, she sat back and typed something into her computer.

“So?” asked Lance, gesturing to Pidge’s computer, “Do us an explain.”

Pidge sat up straight and looked Lance in the eye, “Okay. I have a hypothesis.”

“What is it,” grumbled Keith. He was facing away from everyone else with his arms crossed.

“Well,” she glanced back down at her computer, “My hypothesis is that the combination of the Galra-specific illness and the Galra-specific medication has somehow activated the Galra part of Keith’s immune system, thereby triggering a temporary change in appearance.”

“Temporary?” Keith asked, a hint of hope in his voice.

“I’m less confident about the temporary part than I am about the rest of the hypothesis,” Pidge stated matter-of-factly, causing Keith’s ears to droop, “but yes, I would hypothesize that this is a temporary condition.”

Lance patted Keith’s back, “See? It’ll probably go away as soon as you’re done with the antibiotics.”

“Then I’m done taking the antibiotics,” Keith stated simply.

Lance and Pidge exchanged a panicked look.

“I wouldn’t advise that,” said Pidge.

“Too bad,” said Keith dryly, “because I’m done with them.”

“Uh, only if you want to _die_!” Lance argued frantically.

“I feel better already,” Keith retorted.

“It’s very important to take the full course of any antibiotic regimen,” explained Pidge.

“Just three more doses and then you’re done!” Lance chimed in optimistically.

Without another word, Keith cloaked himself in a blanket, stood up and walked out of the room.

“Where is he…” Pidge started.

“I dunno, but he’s definitely off to do something stupid!” Lance groaned.

\---------------

It didn’t take them long to figure out where Keith went. He’d returned to his own room…and locked the door.

“Is he just gonna… stay in there until he stops looking Galra?” Pidge asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Sure seems that way!” replied Lance, trying to mask his fear in exasperation.

“Well, that’s pretty stupid.”

“No kidding!”

“I think we need Hunk.”

Lance shrugged, “Might as well!”

\---------------

“Hunk, we need you to break a door down,” said Pidge matter-of-factly, “Or help me hack it open. Your choice.”

“Lance’s or Keith’s?” asked Hunk, “by which I actually mean ‘Lance and Keith’s bedroom’ or ‘Lance and Keith’s storage room.’”

“Hey!” pouted Lance, “I resent that remark …”

“I mean, it’s true,” Pidge laughed.

“Lance and Keith’s storage room…” muttered Lance.

“Let us hear it looouder,” taunted Pidge.

“Lance and Keith’s storage room!” Lance huffed, ”Are you happy now?”

“I’m on it!” Hunk responded with a grin, grabbing a toolbox and his bayard and heading in the direction of the sleeping quarters, “So, catch me up while we walk. What’s been going on with Keith the past couple days?”

Pidge and Lance responded simultaneously with “he’s turned into a furry” and “he’s turned into a blanket ghost.”

“Uh… care to explain?” Hunk cocks and eyebrow.

“We think treating his infection is temporarily making him look more Galra than he normally does,” Pidge explained.

“Whoa, cool!” Hunk’s face lit up.

“Yeah, well… he doesn’t think so,” Lance replied sullenly.

“Ah, yeah, I guess he wouldn’t…” Hunk said, suddenly sympathetic, “Poor guy.”

\---------------

Breaking into Keith’s bedroom door wasn’t hard. All it took was some technical finesse from Hunk and Pidge. Breaking into Keith’s heavily-barricaded-from-both-sides bathroom door proved more of a challenge. Especially if they wanted to do so without destroying half of his and Lance’s belongings in the process.

By the time they reached the (still locked and barricaded from the inside) door, the three paladins were exhausted.

“Keith, you in there?” Hunk shouted through the door as he slumped down in front of it.

No reply.

“Are you just gonna stay there until your appearance returns to normal? How are you planning to eat?” inquired Pidge, panting after half an hour of rearranging Keith and Lance’s mess of belongings, “Also, do you seriously keep souvenirs from all the planets we visit? That’s weirdly adorable.”

Still no reply.

“If you die in there, I’m going to kill you!” shouted Lance.

“That doesn’t even make sense!” responded Keith’s muffled voice from the depths of the bathroom.

“Neither does this!” Lance retorted, gesturing at the bathroom door even though Keith can’t see him.

Pidge and Hunk exchanged a look and snickered to themselves.

“Anyways, we’re not going anywhere until we get you out of there, so suck it!” Lance stuck his tongue out at the bathroom door.

“But also, we’re taking a nap before we tackle this door,” announced Hunk with a yawn.

“Roger that!” Pidge agreed, diving into Hunk’s lap.

“Count me in!” Lance eagerly joined the cuddle pile.

\---------------

When Allura followed the “repairs needed” signal to a malfunctioning door, the last thing she expected was to find was a pile of sleeping paladins on the floor of a room that belonged to exactly none of them.

“Paladins?” she said softly, rapping on the wall to get their attention.

Hunk was the first to wake up. “Princess?” he mumbled with a yawn.

The other two paladins sat up groggily, awoken by Hunk’s voice and movement.

“What are you all doing in here?” Allura asked.

“Uh… it’s a long story,” responded Pidge with a sheepish grin.

“Where is Keith?” Allura said, her brow crinkling in a mix of amusement and concern.

“In the bathroom,” said Lance, pointing back at the door with a thumb.

“Ohh, so he’ll be right back?”

“Nah, he’s barricaded in there pretty good,” explained Hunk.

“…barricaded?” Allura’s confusion grew.

Lance and Pidge exchanged a “do we tell her?” glance. Pidge concluded it with a “might as well” shrug and turned to Allura, “It seems the healing process has temporarily altered Keith’s appearance.”

“Altered his appearance?” Allura squinted.

“He’s fuzzy,” Lance chimed in.

“The upper right quadrant is pretty much Galra,” Pidge clarified.

“Oh dear…” Allura put her hand up to her mouth.

“He’s being a total _quiznak_ and refusing to take his medicine because he’s afraid of a little fluff!” Lance whined.

“That’s… grammatically incorrect…” Pidge interjected quietly. Lance shushed her.

“Oh no…” tears welled in Allura’s eyes, “This is probably my fault…”

“Excuse me?” says Hunk.

“How exactly is it your fault that my idiot boyfriend is currently barricaded in a bathroom, refusing to take his medicine?” asked Lance incredulously.

“I gave him so much trouble when I first found out he was Galra…” Allura fretted.

Hunk hefted himself up from the floor and engulfed Allura in a giant hug, “None of this is your fault.”

“Okay, but onto the most pressing question,” interjected Lance, “How the heck are we getting this idiot out of his armor-clad bathroom?”

“Would you shut up?” says Keith’s muffled voice from the bathroom, “Also, could someone help me? I’m stuck.”

Everyone in the room exchanged a glance, then Lance turns back to the door, “Did you seriously get stuck in your own bathroom, doofus?”

“Are you coming out?!” asked Pidge.

“Well, I was trying to!” Keith huffed, “But my desk had other plans.”

“ _That’s_ where your desk went!” Hunk laughed.

“I’ll go… open that door from the control panel,” Allura offered, trying hard to keep a straight face.

“At least someone out there is helpful!” Keith shouted.

\---------------

It took them a while, but the team eventually managed to extract Keith from his barricaded bathroom. Once freed, he loomed away from the group with his hands sheepishly covering his face. Lance made his way over to him and wrapped an arm around him, “So, does this mean you’re gonna take your medicine?”

“Yes,” Keith responded through gritted teeth, hands still defensively shielding his face.

“That’s good, because I think you reopened your wound trying to crawl through your desk,” Pidge pointed out, reaching up to pluck at the puss-soaked shoulder of Keith’s shirt.

“I can’t believe you dragged your entire desk into your bathroom!” Hunk exclaimed, gently patting Keith’s back, “I’m kind of impressed. I mean… not really in a good way. But still. Impressed.”

“I’m so sorry if anything I’ve said or done has made you feel unsafe in this castle,” Allura said, placing a hand on the furry side of Keith’s face, “You’re one of us, and nothing short of outright betrayal could change that.”

Keith lowered his hands from his face and looked out at his team. His friends. His family? The corner of his mouth turned up in a small smile. Finally, he spoke, “How about we never speak of this again.”

They all laughed.

“And hey, Lance?” he turned to the blue paladin at his side.

“Yeah, babe?” Lance fluttered his eyes.

Keith rolled his eyes in response, “Please medicate me before I change my mind.”

“You got it, babe,” Lance planted a kiss on Keith’s cheek and led him out of the room to a chorus of giggles.


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith’s shoulder wound isn’t healing quite right, but he refuses to tell anyone besides Lance. The situation quickly devolves into chaos and the whole castle gets involved (to Keith’s dismay).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Content Warnings: Season 2 spoilers, icky wound descriptions, vomit

Lance shook Keith awake, “Hey! Hey, Keithy!”

“Whaaat…”

“No fur!!!”

The red paladin sat bolt upright, “Really?”

“Yeah, not even on your back!” Lance grinned.

Keith squinted, “Do I even wanna know how you know that?”

“Certainly not by sticking my hand under your shirt in your sleep,” Lance maintained his grin.

Keith rolled his eyes and tugged Lance towards himself, “C’mere, doofus.”

“Wha…” Lance blinked as his nose bumped against Keith’s.

“You’re so cute,” Keith whispered against his boyfriend’s lips.

Lance’s breath caught in his throat, “Y-yeah, well… you’re cute too!”

“I’m gonna kiss you, now.”

Lance gave a small nod and their lips met, taking his breath away entirely. It wasn’t a long kiss. Just long enough for Keith to take Lance’s lower lip between his teeth and run his tongue across it, sending a shiver down both if their backs. Then they pulled apart, blushing and dizzy with pleasure, and Keith ducked his head under Lance’s chin to snuggle close. Lance rubbed a hand gently up and down his back.

“Thank you, Lance,” Keith mumbled into Lance’s collarbone.

“For what?”

“For dealing with me.”

“You’re welcome, Mister Vague Guy.”

“You know what I’m talking about.”

Lance kissed the top of Keith’s head, “For the record, I think you’re as cute with fur as you are without.”

“Shut up,” Keith blushed and reached down to tickle Lance’s ribs.

The blue paladin let out an earsplitting shriek followed by threats of revenge.

Before long, the two paladins were chasing each other through the halls of the castle in pajamas, laughing, shouting and grappling with each other. Allura smiled to herself as she watched them. They still needed to find Shiro and save the universe, but at least _something_ was going right in the castle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: This Keith-literally-transforming-into-a-Galra trope doesn’t make any sense?  
> Also Me: What if I wrote a fic about Keith transforming into a Galra?! But like, with a poorly-thought-out “scientific” explanation to justify it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you wanna come say hi, I'm [Agapostemon](https://agapostemon.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr!
> 
> Also: Please remember that I write purely for fun and catharsis. My fics are unbeta’d and minimally proofread. They’re not perfect, and that’s okay. If you notice something I could fix or improve, please keep those thoughts to yourself. If I genuinely want critique, I’ll ask a close friend in private. **Surprise critiques are very stressful and discouraging.** Thanks for understanding!


End file.
